pennsylvania, how many it turned out in philadelphia. host: we will have coverage of the election day here on c-span starting at 8:00 p.m. on c-span, c-span radio, and online at c- span.org. we will bring in the presidential result does well as key senate and governor races as well as a victory in a concession speeches. we will also have your reaction to a halt tuesday night at 8:00 p.m.. we leave you now to bring you back to this rally in pennsylvania when the governor arrives. first, "newsmakers" with the the wasserman schultz and jon thuman. -- de4bbie wasserman schultz. representative debbie wassermanthank you for being with us. >> joining us is david levinthal, a reporter for politico.

thank you for being with us. let me begin by asking about florida. you said the president will win your state. breakdown the demographics of florida. where will the president do well and mitt romney? >> let's just talk about how early voting has been going. you do that combined with the absentee voting. going into early voting, we cut the absentee ballots by 85%. going in they had about 36,000 ballots when normally they have more than 200,000 ballots more than us. when early voting ended yesterday we had 104 more democrats that have cashed out.

-- 104,000 more that have cast ballots. we have run circles around them because of our very strong and ground game. there has been an explosive turnout of democrats in major counties. yesterday we had single day records and major counties around the state of florida. going into election day weekend see in my state that the enthusiasm is explosive among democratic voters were turned out in record numbers to support president obama. the same is true in states across the country like nevada and iowa and north carolina. we have over 300,000 voters advantage from early voting. our ground game is paying off. that is what i'm confident we're going to win florida. in the panhandle is where republicans typically runs stronger. lee county in southwest florida.

just by way of example, in republican strongholds like that, there were more democrats that cast ballots even though there were double-digit registration advantages. >> is there one county that is a bellwether for you in florida that you will be watching tuesday? >> the i-4 in general is typically how the state will go. it'll be the first factor. we had record turnout in hillsborough county. that is the western end of the i-4 quarter. we are feeling really good about the direction that this election is taking in florida.

we win florida. we will.dent that president obama will be reelected president of the united states. >> president obama is going to be in florida for the last time before the election day today. i was just in florida. >> in my district. >> i was doing some canvassing with the national. one of the things i was interested in finding out, and now the a bombing campaign is suggesting that hispanic latino voting might be of 2%. how do think president obama is going to do with hispanics and african-americans? will and make a difference to that? >> that will make a key difference. for example, yesterday's in

terms of our door-to-door canvassing, we canvassed yesterday and reached hundreds of thousands. the turnout in terms of early voting has skewed heavily toward the hispanic and african american voters turning out. what has also backfired on the republicans is that they had an egregiously extreme voter suppression of a past, some of which was tossed out. i feel like the increase in the turnout in hispanic voters is really a direct result of the frustration and anger of the obstacles that republicans have tried to cast in their way here. they are turning out saying you're not one to stop me from casting my ballot. it has been outrageous. they got the early and number

voting days from 14 to 8. there are two to four fewer hours available even though we have had record turnout. even though gov. chris and former gov. bush extended early voting hours to deal with the lines and allow more people to vote. gov. scott said no and refused to extend those hours. they know it comes to the outcome of the election they cannot win it on the merits. they have been trying to rig the outcome by structuring you actually shows up at the polls. >> the republican national committee has successful cycle when it comes to fund-raising. do you think the dnc has let down the president or not keep pace with the rnc when it comes with the overall ability to support democrats across the country? >> on the contrary. we have coordinated with the obama campaign.

we have a combined victory fund that we were able to have in place far in advance of when the republicans could. their primary went on for so long. we front loaded our grass-roots ground game early on. we sent money out to the states from the dnc, built up our ground game while the republican primary was going on. this ground game you're seeing is really paying off. it has been a different and not so much that we have been out raised, it is how we spend our resources. we did door-to-door campaigning which we know is affected. we had it pay off as the ballots were cast. we're very excited. we are where we need to be. we think our ground game is

paying off. >> let me follow up on what date was asking you. next week what do you think your list are going to want to write about what difference in money made in this election? i am thinking be on the presidential election. there have been suggestions that where democrats all the difference of money is in house races. tell us what you think we're going to write about in this cycle. >> what we have seen building is that there really is a bad taste in the mouth of the average voter who really has been disgusted by a handful of billionaires trying to buy the white house four mitt romney, dumping millions of dollars that are not transparent that corporate america trying to buy

themselves a congress. i think what you will be writing about is that it is essential that we make sure that we restore accountability, that when it comes to the money involved in politics that it be transparent. that we know who is giving and we make sure. the average contribution to the president's campaign is about $53. compare that to the republicans which is a much higher. mitt romney had to take out a loan to purchase up to the general election of $20 million. they had no big givers left to give. when it comes to money and politics, president obama and democrats have tried to deemphasize big corporate givers. we believe this should be a

people power campaign. that is why we focus on the $5 or $20 contributions. i think it will carry the president back to the white house. i think you'll see lots of members elected. that grass-roots fund-raising has been reflected in their ground game operation. >> to you feel any added pressure since florida is your home to deliver florida to president obama? >> there's plenty of time for that. we have done all that we need to do to make sure that florida is in the win column for president obama. it has been an incredible team effort.

we had 106 offices open around the state of florida. we're eclipsed the republicans' ability. they have to make up on tuesday. at last count by friday, they have to give 53% of remaining voters to support mitt romney. that is that were the numbers are. we have the math. mitt romney has had a lot of misses. they have been throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the president, making up smoke and mirror opportunities that and not exist. they do not even have an organization in pennsylvania. they know the math does not work for them. they're being patently

dishonest. at the end of the day, this election whether it is florida or ohio is going to be who the voters trusted move us forward to fight for the middle class and working families to make sure we do not have a president that will shut the health care and social security safety net. who do hispanic voters trust? particularly down to the young dream at kids. they will continue to lead us forward and not drag us back toward to policies that crashed our economy. if you work hard and play by the world that everyone has a chance if succeed. >> let me ask about the other names on the ballot. the members of congress.

polls are democrat think that the democrats will gain in the house but republicans will still hold on to the majority. the democrats keep the senate but do not retake the house. do you agree? >> we have enough races them play where there are candidates with resources and ground game or the numbers are there. they have put enough players on the field so that when it comes to turnout on election day, of if we have the kind of election day we have prepared for, we can take the house back. we will be making gains in the double digits. i think we have a real opportunity to take the house. >> thank you very much for being with us. >> thank you. my pleasure. >> joining us from the campaign trail is senator john thune,

the chairman of the conference. joining us at the table is real clear politics and dave levinthal up politico. >> i want to follow up about what she said about predicting the outcome in the senate. he had been working hard to figure out how republicans could possibly get the control back at the senate. what is your outlook for the senate at this time? are there any lessons learned about how some of these races have come to surprise republicans who thought they were going to be way ahead from where they have ended up here? >> there are always surprises in any election cycle. there are always a few races out there that people think happen.

in any case there are always a few of those that pop up that perhaps people to not see coming. i think this year is no exception. i still believe that we are well-positioned. if things go well on tuesday and did governor romney has a strong performance at the top of the ticket for us to win the necessary seats to get us back to 51. it's more complicated if we lose seats. there are many seats we feel good about. some races are just up for grabs. there are some very close in competitive races around the country. i do not think anybody really knows how they will go. >> what state will were you the

most on election night? >> for us to do well, we would love to hang on to what we have. in the north east we have massachusetts and maine. those are always taught seats because of the structural disadvantages that republicans have. we have to do well in the middle of the country. we have to win and places like wisconsin and nebraska. we're hoping for some success in virginia and new mexico. these are going around the map and there are a number of races that are still very much in place where our candidates are running even or in some races running ahead. we have to pick up some democrat held seats. a really now comes down to voters in the turnout efforts. every state is working very hard to get the voters out. >> do you think richard mourdock and todd akin are going to be able to win the seat despite the high-profile, and they have made talking about rape?

have those comments from a political but blankets on other races across the country that concerns you? >> i do not think those races are having any impact on others. most of these races are very much hand-to-hand combat in these individual state. i think what that the senate race is more than anything is the top of the ticket. that is where you're going to see the lift come from it mitt romney performs well. missouri, i think if you look at the way the state is trending in terms of the presidential race, governor romney is up double digits in missouri. if he pulls and a strong win that could help todd akin get across the finish line. these are races where our candidates did have setbacks.

not is a question of whether or not there is a type that can help overcome that. it is important to our goal of trying to reach the majority for it to happen. >> do you consider both of those races are one of the two definitely winnable? >> i do. thing they both are winnable. i talk to folks the missouri using mitt romney is pulling ahead of president obama and anywhere from 10 or 18 points. if there is a big double digit win is a clear head wind. the same is true in indiana. it is still a very strong republican state. you have mike pence who is running for governor who has a

very big margin there. we are still hopeful governor romney will win big in indiana. we hope our candidates will have a good night there. it will come down to turnout. >> in hindsight because this race is so close, was that a mistake? >> all those decisions get made based on circumstances at the time. i think that there have been some money put in there now by the nrse as a lot of other folks are playing them in the state of missouri. you never really know sometimes until these races start to take place in the cycle. i think what they have done is

try to make the best decisions they can based on information they have about what our best opportunities are for winning seat and allocate resources accordingly. this is one that is on everybody's radar screen. sweeping missouri is a very real possibility of coming through. even though it is develop late, it is not too late in order for us to get over the top. >> the president is going to finish his campaign travel in iowa, a state he felt helped him launch his presidential trajectory. it still shows president obama shooting up 5 points. >> where is mitt romney's challenge in iowa? he has to perform well.

he has to do well in western iowa. it really does become an intensity battle in the state of iowa. the average looks like the president has an advantage here. there is a lot of enthusiasm and energy and intensity on the ground. if you look at early voting in iowa which usually favors democrats, republicans have caught up to the 2008 cycle. there is a very different field. there is a ground game here that is under way. both sides are very active.

i would certainly feel very much in play for governor romney and for republicans generally. i think it will come down to where those margins are. i think mitt romney can very much when the state. >> going to virginia for a second. if you believe what some of the latest polls say, tim kaine is leading george allen. could that factor in and be a boon for barack obama? >> it is. i think we feel good about virginia and florida. we have senate races in both states that we're watching very closely.

that case has been a nail biter. both of the candidates got into the race. it swings back and forth. like any campaign there is an ebb and flow. i think that george allen's campaign has been very effective there. i think it will come down to the turnout. there is a strong correlation between the presidential race and the senate race. i think a lot will go very closely aligned and how virginia comes out. because we feel very good about governor romney's prospects, we also feel pretty good about george allen's prospects. >> harry reid said it was a fantasy to think the democrats would work with iran if he is

elected. if there romney is elected, do you think democrats will work with a romney administration? if the president is reelected, will there be a more bipartisan spirit? >> however this comes out i hope we can get on with governing the country in doing the nation's business. we have some really big challenges. i do not think this is helpful or constructive or what the american people want to hear. i do think if governor romney is elected president and the democrats were to hang onto the senate, that creates a dynamic that we're going to have to navigate to try to get some things done for the best interests of the american people. my hope is that both people would recognize that the challenges we face are big enough that we cannot afford to

get bogged down. we need to give the president an opportunity to try a different direction. what we have been doing has not worked. if you look at all the indicators it has been lower take-home pay. we have a direction in play. this will hopefully get the president's on a better track. >> what is your schedule for the next 48 hours? >> the group i am in with iowa. they continue up to wisconsin. i have had to tell often go back to south dakota. we did peel off and go to south dakota. we're all busy. it is make or break time.

it comes down to who wants it tehe most. it's what will decide a lot of these races. >> thank you very much for being with us here. senator jon thune. >> thank you. it is good to be with you. >> what are you looking for tuesday? what are you keeping an eye on? >> everyone in journalism is looking at ohio. just like the candidates are examining ohio very closely. we're also looking very carefully at virginia in colorado. we did talk about virginia. trying to figure out these very close state. iowa was a state we have been watching. ohio looks like it is going more gracefully toward president obama. we will see that holds up by election night.

then all those building blocks are to build after that. we are doing the same sort of examination that everybody is doing. >> 1 poll shows this dead heat. democrats are saying the republicans are chasing fool's gold. >> you have to wonder if it is a little too late there is definitely a hurricane sandy element to all of this. that could definitely be something that even though you do not want to politicize a disaster, you could be looking at a lot of democratic voters are not coming to the polls because they cannot are they have other things going on. that is not a factor. it seems to indicate that the democrats still have an advantage here. the republicans think that this

is a state where they have the money to invest there. they are investing the money because why not do it at this stage in the game at the polls are closing down so much? >> you've been focusing on the incredible shrinking number of battleground states. there are 10 battleground states. it is essentially coming down to three or four. since the convention, both campaigns have only travel to more than one dozen states on the campaign trail. >> this will be a chance to be in florida. he was in virginia last night. he will keep coming back to the midwestern firewall we have talked about a lot. the math has suddenly shot down to the states they're both competing in. it has been amazing to watch them debt in and get out within hours of each other. -- jet in and out within hours. and sending all their surrogates to the same place. voters are all too easy to have an election day concluded in

those states. >> what are you looking for on election night? >> alexis mentioned new hampshire. the smallest of all the swing states. people are so independently minded. it all the other states that all the math works out or this is a close battle, a new hampshire could come into play. keep your eye on the state. people have a way of shocking you in going against the polls. >> david's work is available online at politico.com. alexis at realpolitics.com. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]